European stocks outside London gain ahead of ECB

Most of the major European indices trade range bound to higher this Thursday, as investors turn cautious ahead of the ECB monetary policy decision due to be announced later this session.

While markets digest the latest below estimates retail sales data from the UK, which exerts bearish pressure on the London stocks. Moreover, fresh sell-off seen across the commodities’ space, particularly oil and copper prices, dent the sentiment around energy, metals and mining sector stocks.

More so, mixed corporate news also dominated the moods on the region’s indices, with shares of Nestle tumbling after the company lowered its full-year guidance, while Lufthansa shares soared more-than 10% after the German airliner raised its profit target for the year.

Meanwhile, Germany's DAX 30 index rises +0.22% to 10,671, while the UK's FTSE 100 index declines -0.10% to, 7,017. Among the other indices, the French CAC 40 index gains +0.18% to 4,530, while the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index adds +0.31% to trade at 3070 levels.